Good morning everyone and welcome to the first prompt of the week. It feels somehow extra special as I am back at my desk and getting up at my normal time again. Nothing feels quite as fabulous as your own bed sometimes. But we are up now and it is time to start the week. So writing implements of choice at the ready and let those timers go.
I kind of like this one. So many ways it can be taken. So many twists and turns possible. It could be a love story, a revenge story or even a murder mystery from here. Quite a lot of fun. No clue where it is going but I may circle back at lunch to figure that out.
Monday, July 31st: The pain was sharp and immediate.
The pain was sharp and immediate. She didn’t love him. She might never have loved him. He didn’t have the courage to ask her about that on that last day. He wanted to ask if she ever loved him and when that love disappeared. Had if faded over time, or when HE arrived on the scene had what she felt for him been eclipsed so completely that it was gone?
Or had it never really existed at all.
His courage failed him. The moment where he could ask that question, if indeed there was a moment flitted by and she was handing him a box with his things. The rest of his items were contained in a suitcase and a duffle by her feet.
“I’ve called you a cab,” She said. She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I told them to take you to a hotel. I made a reservation for you for the week. I thought that would be enough to let you figure out what you want to do.”
“Right,” he said. He bent over and sling the duffle over his shoulder. He picked up the suitcase handle and extended it with a click. His other arm clutched the box.
‘Five years all wrapped up,’ he thought.
He felt numb. He was certain at some point he would feel something. He wasn’t sure what. Anger maybe, sadness possibly.
‘It’s too fast,’ he thought as he turned and left the apartment. She closed the door and he heard it lock. He turned away and went to the elevator. ‘To fast to process,’ he decided as he rode down to the street level.
The elevator door dinged and he got out in the lobby. As he did, he saw Dennis walking in. His replacement. He had a jaunty step and a smile on his face. Dennis spotted him and his smile slipped. He said nothing, just turned to the stairwell instead of taking the elevator.
Still, he didn’t feel anything. He walked towards the main door, seeing the taxi waiting outside. As he passed, he noticed that his name had already been removed from the mail box. Dennis was already listed as co occupant.
Somehow that stung. The sight of his name already replaced. Had it been replaced when he went upstairs? He didn’t know, he hadn’t stopped for the mail, certain she would have picked it up before he got home. If he had stopped would he have seen it?
Or did Dennis change it as he was waiting for the end? Had Dennis been lurking in the hall, waiting for the all clear signal to take up his new place. He kept walking. Did it matter?
A part of his brain said it did. The rest of him was still too numb to care. He climbed into the taxi.
She paid the cab fare in advance. The driver knew where to take him and didn’t need anything from him. Perhaps he knows why he is taking me here,’ he thought. He wondered if he looked like a man who had just been replaced.
The hotel was more of a motel. It was clean and tidy. While she had made the reservation for him for the week, she had not paid this bill and he used his credit card at the register. He didn’t think he would stay the week. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew he needed to think about it. He needed to get his thoughts clear before he did anything.
He went to his room. The day had been a tumultuous one. It ended, or at least he thought it ended with an exiting offer. The offer was one he was looking forward to discussing with her. To deciding if it was right for them. On his own, he was unsure about it. A decision would have to be made the following day, but the situation had changed drastically from the time he left the office.
Ten til Midnight 